The Week That Was: 2023-10-28 (October 28, 2023)
Brought to You by SEPP (www.SEPP.org)
The Science and Environmental Policy Project
Quote of the Week: “Science is organized common sense where many a beautiful theory was killed by an ugly fact.” — Thomas Huxley [H/t William Readdy]
Number of the Week: 50 Years
THIS WEEK:
By Ken Haapala, President, Science and Environmental Policy Project (SEPP)
Scope: These items will be discussed below. The inhumane characteristics of Net Zero policies. Africa needs reliable affordable electricity. The “simple physics” of climate change, which is not simple. A discussion paper from Statistics Norway questioning the importance of carbon dioxide on climate. Observations for September 2023 from Danish geologist Ole Humlum. The rules of Energy Transition Club and bumps in the road to COP 28.
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Net Zero: Perhaps the most repulsive characteristic of Net Zero or the Green New Deal advocated by the UN, the EU, and the US and Canada is denying affordable, reliable electricity to those regions with many people living in extreme poverty. According to Our World in Data, in 1990 about 2 billion people lived in extreme poverity (less than $2.15 per day, adjusted for purchasing power and inflation). Of the total, about 1.6 billion (80%) were in East Asia & the Pacific, and in South Asia. About 270 million (13.5%) lived in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Thanks to changes in government policy in China and most of South Asia, in 2019 the number living there in extreme poverty was down to about 180 million. This is about 28% of 650 million people still living in extreme poverty worldwide. No wonder the claims of a climate crisis made by the UN and its International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) are ignored by China and most of Asia. These are based on the results of climate models that do not stand up to physical evidence. Chinese and other scientists and scholars understand the history of changing climate and the importance of reducing poverty that the IPCC and its followers ignore.
In 2019, the region with the greatest number of people living in extreme poverty is Sub-Saharan Africa with about 390 million of a total of about 650 million still in extreme poverty worldwide, or about 60%. Thanks to strong export earnings, not dependent on EU import requirements, China and most of Asia can ignore the false claims of the UN, US, and EU, but most countries in Sub-Saharan Africa cannot. Because of policies established by the UN, US, and the EU, traditional international lending institutions have denied lending to countries in Sub-Saharan Africa for fossil fuel-powered electricity.
Incredibly, as the UN, US, and EU embrace policies to maintain and expand poverty by denying lending to eliminate poverty through affordable, reliable energy, the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which state:
“Goal 1: End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Eradicating extreme poverty for all people everywhere by 2030 is a pivotal goal of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Extreme poverty, defined as surviving on less than $2.15 per person per day in 2017 purchasing power parity, has witnessed remarkable declines over recent decades.”
The leaders of these organizations have no shame.
Thankfully, a few are willing to speak out against this real injustice against humanity, as stated below. See https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/total-population-living-in-extreme-poverty-by-world-region for extreme poverty and https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/poverty/ for UN claims of Sustainable Development Goals.
Africa Needs Reliable, Affordable Electricity: As the population of the US and the EU age, fewer people know what it is like to live without affordable, reliable electricity or sanitary water and sewers. Thus, it is important to recognize the importance of one who writes about such conditions and the need to alleviate them. This week, Net Zero Watch published two papers articulating the need for reliable, affordable electricity. The press release states:
“Net Zero Watch is today publishing two important new papers on African energy needs and the disastrous implications of energy poverty. Written by Zimbabwean journalist Geoff Hill, the two publications were launched in Parliament yesterday evening.
70% of Africa’s Forest has been cut down and the rest is falling fast. In Africa, an area the size of Switzerland is cleared of forest every year, with an estimated 90% of the wood used for cooking or heating.
Linked to this, on a continent that’s home to the Nile, Zambezi, and Congo rivers, why do hundreds of millions struggle for water? Even where plumbing exists, often the dams are full, but the pipes are dry.
Both problems stem from a lack of electricity: Trees are cut for charcoal and water can’t be pumped to a reservoir. In two powerful new papers, Hill looks at not only the causes, but ways the UK could help.
Speaking in the House of Lords, Hill said:
‘With the Internet, people everywhere have the same expectations. Electricity, water on tap and the lifestyle we see on television. There is no room for an ‘us and them’ mentality among donor nations. Expectations are largely equal, no matter where you live.’
Paper 1: Africa’s burning issue: charcoal and the loss of forest.
‘In Africa, an area the size of Switzerland is cleared of forest every year, with an estimated 90% of the wood used for cooking or to heat the home… There is a need for reliable energy, and at a price local people can afford. Without this, the forest will continue to fall and, ultimately, vanish.’
Paper 2: Clean water for Africa: A dream whose time has come.
‘To give Africans a better quality of life, we need to do more than blame the climate. There are solutions, and most of them involve electricity. That’s the key to granting everyone the basic human right of clean water.’”
According to the press release:
“Geoff Hill is a Zimbabwean writer working across Africa. His media career began at the Manica Post in Mutare in 1980 and he has worked on all six continents, including as special reports manager for The Australian. Since 2002 he has been Africa correspondent for The Washington Times, as well as director of the African risk firm, Something of Value Ltd, and is fluent in English, Afrikaans, and Shona (Zimbabwe).
Hill has served as deputy chair for the Foreign Correspondents’ Association of Southern Africa, and from 2011 to 2013 he was vice president at the International Association of Genocide Scholars.”
See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Simple Physics: John Robson draws attention to a paper previously presented in TWTW but not discussed. The authors of the paper used newly available high precision measurements from a group of satellite monitoring systems. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are increasing significantly, so according to the models, the “heat trapping” effect should be increasing significantly. But based on the measurements it is not. Robson writes:
“And we all know (h/t Al Gore) that they ‘trap heat’ and roast the planet. But how exactly do they ‘trap heat’? Well, they’re transparent to visible light coming in, hitting the Earth’s surface, and warming it, but they then absorb long wave or infrared radiation coming back from the warmer ground and re-radiate it in every direction including, for some of it, back downwards, which further warms the surface. (We have a backgrounder in which a physicist explains the process in detail here.) So, it stands to reason that as greenhouse gas levels go up, since they are supposedly the control knob on the climate, the amount of downward or ‘downwelling’ longwave radiation should be going up too. Should. According to the theory. But according to the data, it isn’t. It’s going down. And some of us still care more about what the facts are than what the models say they ought to be.”
“… And the end result shows that from 1983 to 2008 downward longwave radiation, instead of rising as ‘greenhouse gases’ did, trended downwards. After that it flattened out a bit. And the puzzles don’t end there.
As the authors explain, their method takes account of rising CO2 and methane (CH4) levels which on their own should cause the line to slope up. But it goes down. And not only that, but the new data system also yields estimates of air temperature and ‘skin’ temperature on the Earth’s surface, and it went down over this interval too, even though the usual thermometer data sets said it went up.”
Robson shows the temperature readings of the skin of the Earth, surface-air measurements, and they are not increasing as predicted by the models. He then explains:
“So why is the ‘greenhouse effect’ getting weaker even if greenhouse gases are going up? It’s because greenhouse gases are only part of the story. Changes in water vapor and cloud cover also count in the total greenhouse effect and they have gone down. So, this graph shows the changes in cloud amounts globally over the period:”
The graph is not shown here but is in the essay. Robson concludes:
“Cloud cover has gone down, which on its own has a major (positive) effect on warming because the net effect of clouds is to reflect solar radiation back into space before it can hit the ground and warm it. But CO2 didn’t make it go down. In the real world, as opposed to the artificial one inside simple climate models, greenhouse gases aren’t even the control knob on the total greenhouse effect, let alone the climate.”
Simply, climate change is a very complex process which we do not fully understand, but the IPCC and its followers have oversimplified to the point of producing results that are inconsistent with actual climate change data. Also interesting, is the “backgrounder” 2019 interview of AMO physicist William van Wijngaarden, a colleague of William Happer, on “The Basic Mechanisms” of climate change, and what we know and what we do not know or understand. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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Too Weak to Consider: An I & I (Issues & Insights) editorial brings up a discussion paper by John K. Dagsvik and Sigmund H. Moen published by Statistics Norway, Statistisk sentralbyra, the official statistical arm of the government of Norway, which has been publishing statistics since 1876. The paper defines a discussion paper:
“Discussion Papers: comprise research papers intended for international journals or books. A preprint of a Discussion Paper may be longer and more elaborate than a standard journal article, as it may include intermediate calculations and background material etc.”
John Dagsvik is a member of Statistics Norway and Sigmund Moen is a retired Civil Engineer. In discussing global variation, the paper states:
“In the global climate models (GCMs) most of the warming that has taken place since 1950 is attributed to human activity. Historically, however, there have been large climatic variations. Temperature reconstructions indicate that there is a ‘warming’ trend that seems to have been going on for as long as approximately 400 years. Prior to the last 250 years or so, such a trend could only be due to natural causes. The length of the observed time series is consequently of crucial importance for analyzing empirically the pattern of temperature fluctuations and to have any hope of distinguishing natural variations in temperatures from man-made ones. Fortunately, many observed temperature series are significantly longer than 100 years and in addition, as mentioned above, there are reconstructed temperature series that are much longer.”
After a discussion of the instrument record, which is not comprehensive or consistent, the authors bring up temperature variations in the past.
“Ice cores from Greenland and Antarctica provide unique archives of past climate and environmental changes based only on natural physical processes. Figure B2 in Appendix B shows reconstructed temperatures over the past 420,000 years obtained at the Vostok station, Antarctica (Petit et al., 1999, 2001). The record spans over four glacial periods and five interglacial periods, including the present.
The preceding four interglacial periods are seen at about 125,000, 280,000, 325,000 and 415,000 years before now, with much longer glacial periods in between. All four previous interglacial periods are seen to be warmer than the present. The typical length of a glacial period is about 100,000 years, while an interglacial period typically lasts for about 10-15,000 years. The present inter-glacial period has now lasted about 11,600 years.”
The UN and the global climate models ignore that glaciation has been the dominant climate feature over the past 400,000 years, and according to Tom Gallegher using continuous deep-sea sediments, for more than the past 3 million years. The paper also compares carbon dioxide with temperature at Vostok Station (Antarctica) over the past 420,000 years. The scale is not sufficiently fine to determine which lags. Other data shows carbon dioxide levels lag temperature changes. However, the reconstructed temperature for Greenland for the last 11,000 years in the paper clearly shows that the current warm period has been exceeded in the past. Further, the Little Ice Age that “ended” about 1850 was cold, making it a highly biased starting point for estimating Earth’s warming and cooling.
The abstract makes the findings clear:
“Weather and temperatures vary in ways that are difficult to explain and predict precisely. In this article we review data on temperature variations in the past as well as possible reasons for these variations. Subsequently, we review key properties of global climate models and statistical analyses conducted by others on the ability of the global climate models to track historical temperatures. These tests show that standard climate models are rejected by time series data on global temperatures. Finally, we update and extend previous statistical analysis of temperature data (Dagsvik et al., 2020). Using theoretical arguments and statistical tests we find, as in Dagsvik et al. (2020), that the effect of man-made CO2 emissions does not appear to be strong enough to cause systematic changes in the temperature fluctuations during the last 200 years.” [Boldface added]
Defenders of the IPCC and its followers dismiss such findings, claiming they are interested in the human effects only. However, the authors of the US National Assessment, which follows the IPCC, have no such excuse. They are legally obligated to consider the natural processes as well as the human influences, yet do not. See links under Questioning the Orthodoxy.
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Observations for September 2023: For years, Danish geologist Ole Humlum at the University Centre in Svalbard, Denmark, has been publishing monthly and annual observations based on an extensive review of all available data. His annual publications are now carried by Net Zero Watch. (Svalbard is an archipelago north of the Arctic Circle.)
A short summary of Humlum’s observations until September 2023 [boldface added]:
1: Observed average global air temperature change last 40 years is about +0.157°C per decade. If this change rate remains stable, additional average global air temperature increase by year 2100 will be about +1.2°C. However, part of the apparent temperature increase reported is due to administrative changes, and the real future increase may therefore be smaller.
2: Tide gauges along coasts indicate a typical global sea level increase of about 1-2 mm/yr. Coastal sea level change rate last 100 years has essentially been stable, without recent acceleration. If change rate remains stable, global sea level at coasts will typically increase 8-16 cm by year 2100, although many locations in regions affected by glaciation 20,000 ago, will experience a relative sea level drop.
3: Since 2004 the global oceans above 1900 m depth on average have warmed about 0.07°C. The maximum warming (about 0.2°C, 0-100 m depth) mainly affects oceans near Equator, where the incoming solar radiation is at maximum.
4: Changes in atmospheric CO2 follow changes in global air temperature. Changes in global air temperature follow changes in ocean surface temperature.
5: There is no perceptible effect on atmospheric CO2 due to the COVID-related drop in GHG emissions 2020-2021. Natural sinks and sources for atmospheric CO2 far outweigh human contributions.
Note that Humlum’s use of global air temperatures is surface-air temperatures, not atmospheric temperature trends compiled by University of Alabama, Huntsville. See links under Challenging the Orthodoxy.
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The Rules: Ron Clutz reproduces an amusing piece by Irana Slav on the rules of the Energy Transition Club. The are:
Rule #1: We do not talk about the problems. (Unless we absolutely have to.)
Rule #2: Facts are obsolete. Only the transition matters. (Until facts punch you in the face.)
Rule #3: Tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it.
Rule #4: If it’s failing, double down
Rule #5: Words and numbers are weapons.
Rule #6: Questions are denial.
The rules are well explained and seem to apply almost universally to those advocating energy transition from reliable, affordable electricity generated by traditional sources such as fossil fuels, hydro, and nuclear to new sources such as wind, solar, and biomass. See links under Questioning Green Elsewhere.
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On the Road Again: The preparation for the 28th Conference of Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 28) in the United Arb Emirates from November 30 to December 12 seems to be hitting a few bumps. According to the Jakarta Post a crucial meeting on climate “loss and damages” ended without the parties being able to reach an agreement. Rachel Cleetus of the Union of Concerned Scientists stated that the failure is “a blow to communities … facing an unrelenting onslaught of climate impacts.” Anyone familiar with the great floods and droughts that marked weather change in the 1920s and 30s, which was before the widespread use of fossil fuels, knows that the current climate impacts are relatively benign, making calculations of loss and damage from recent events meaningless. See links under After Paris!
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Number of the Week: 50 Years. After discussing how US subsides of electric vehicles appear to be failing to entice most Americans to buy Electric Vehicles, Holman Jenkins gets to the point:
“The pattern is familiar by now, as pointed out by Butler University’s Peter Z. Grossman, who delivers a smart bomb on the 50th anniversary of the 1973 Arab oil embargo in the latest edition of New Atlantis: ‘The worst effect was on U.S. energy policy. Whereas the embargo lasted about five months, the toll on U.S. policy has lasted five decades and counting.’
Bingo. This column has covered how the 50-year-old fuel-economy regime devolved into a convoluted set of political trade-offs serving—as the Biden administration recently admitted—no legitimate cost-benefit goal. Boondoggles from synfuels to corn ethanol were launched in the 1970s to honor the false god of energy independence, though thanks to the still-functioning genius of the free-market system the U.S. nevertheless blundered into true energy security with the help of fracking.
In the climate era pure cynicism finally took over. The words ‘energy transition’ are redundant. The energy economy is always transitioning. The transitions are additive. Wind, hydro, and biomass all existed before fossil fuels arrived. They continue to thrive after. Energy’s uses are unlimited. This is why, unless the world improbably adopts a carbon tax, the effect of green-energy subsidies (aside from enriching their backers) is largely to stimulate increased energy consumption rather than reduce CO2. This effect is already apparent in the numbers.
Yet another ’70s legacy: our least-useful professors invoking big-oil stereotypes in pursuit of political goals. Witness a New York Times op-ed this week combining adventurous antitrust reasoning with tired anti-Exxon tropes, claiming a proposed oil merger represents a ‘direct threat to democracy’ by somehow blocking a solution to climate change that voters apparently crave even though it doesn’t exist.
Exxon controls less than 3% of the world’s oil and gas, most of which are in the hands of governments. The U.S. is responsible for less than 15% of global CO2 emissions. But such academic claptrap is guaranteed to find its way into the perennial lawsuits of Democratic state officials seeking climate damages from oil companies. Of course, any money collected would be earned by producing more oil and gas.
A whole other set of critics bleat at me that a carbon tax is an assault on human freedom. Huh? A carbon tax is a highly visible commodity tax that can be readily avoided—that’s the point of taxing carbon. How is this more of an attack on human freedom than, say, the payroll or income tax, in which government spies on your personal finances—your work, your assets, your household, your spending—so it can take money from your paycheck before you even see it?
The press should be the antidote to the engulfing sea of idiocy on all sides. Ours too often fails. What older Americans remember as the oil crisis was a product of domestic price controls, imposed by people in the Nixon administration who knew better. Not much has changed. Today’s U.S. policy makers are fully aware of how utterly their energy ministrations fail to benefit the American people, albeit in the fine print of policy documents, where the required cost-benefit disclosures are buried. Along the way, the country did manage to remove lead from gasoline and mandate catalytic converters, which improved air quality, showing that rational, economical policy outcomes are still possible amid the vast politicized waste that ‘energy policy’ has otherwise become in the last 50 years.”
See Article # 3
Challenging the Orthodoxy — NIPCC
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Physical Science
Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2013
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/_template-assets/documents/CCR/CCR-II/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Biological Impacts
Idso, Idso, Carter, and Singer, Lead Authors/Editors, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), 2014
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/climate-change-reconsidered-ii-biological-impacts/
Summary: https://www.heartland.org/media-library/pdfs/CCR-IIb/Summary-for-Policymakers.pdf
Climate Change Reconsidered II: Fossil Fuels
By Multiple Authors, Bezdek, Idso, Legates, and Singer eds., Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change, April 2019
http://store.heartland.org/shop/ccr-ii-fossil-fuels/
Download with no charge:
Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming
The NIPCC Report on the Scientific Consensus
By Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, and S. Fred Singer, Nongovernmental International Panel on Climate Change (NIPCC), Nov 23, 2015
http://climatechangereconsidered.org/
Download with no charge:
https://www.heartland.org/policy-documents/why-scientists-disagree-about-global-warming
Nature, Not Human Activity, Rules the Climate
S. Fred Singer, Editor, NIPCC, 2008
http://www.sepp.org/publications/nipcc_final.pdf
Global Sea-Level Rise: An Evaluation of the Data
By Craig D. Idso, David Legates, and S. Fred Singer, Heartland Policy Brief, May 20, 2019
Atmosphere and Greenhouse Gas Primer
By W. A. van Wijngaarden and W. Happer, Preprint, Mar 3, 2023
https://wvanwijngaarden.info.yorku.ca/files/2023/03/GreenhousePrimerArxiv.pdf?x45936
Downward longwave radiation going downward
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Oct 25, 2023
Link to paper: Global Radiative Flux Profile Data Set: Revised and Extended
By Yuanchong Zhang, William B. Rossow, JGR Atmospheres, Feb 21, 2023
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2022JD037340
Backgrounder: The “Simple Physics” Slogan
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Apr 16, 2019
70% of Africa’s Forest is gone. Without affordable energy it will vanish
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Oct 24, 2023
Clean Water for Africa: A dream whose time has come
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Oct 24, 2023
Link to: Clean Water for Africa: A dream whose time has come
By Geoff Hill, Net Zero Watch, Oct 24, 2023
“Africa has abundant water. In many places rainfall levels are high, and the continent is home to giant river systems including the Nile, Congo, Zambezi and Volta. Dams and lakes are plentiful. The challenge lies in getting water to where it is needed.
Africa’s Burning Issue: Charcoal and the loss of forest
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Oct 24, 2023
Africa’s Burning Issue: Charcoal and the loss of forest
By Geoff Hill, Net Zero Watch, 2023
Short Summary of Observations Until September 2023
By Ole Humlum, Climate4you, Oct 21, 2023
https://www.climate4you.com/
Full report:
Do We Really Know That Human Greenhouse Gas Emissions Cause Significant Climate Change?
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Oct 24, 2023
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2023-10-24-do-we-really-know-that-human-greenhouse-gas-emissions-cause-significant-climate-change
Sowell Exposes Social Justice Fallacies
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Oct 25, 2023
“Social Engineering – The art of replacing what works with what sounds good.”
Defending the Orthodoxy – Bandwagon Science
Humanity at ‘code red,’ facing climate emergency, scientists warn
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Oct 24, 2023
Humanity at ‘code red,’ facing climate emergency, scientists warn
Link to report: The 2023 state of the climate report: Entering uncharted territory.
By William J Ripple, et al, BioScience, Oct 2, 2023
https://academic.oup.com/bioscience/advance-article/doi/10.1093/biosci/biad080/7319571?login=false#422066302
[SEPP Comment: Carbon dioxide and water vapor are destroying photosynthesis and plant life?]
Supporting Climate, Health, and Equity under the Farm Bill
By Lisa Patel, M.D., M.E.Sc., and Linda Rudolph, M.D., M.P.H., New England Journal of Medicine, Oct 26, 2023
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2307507?query=TOC&cid=NEJM+eToc%2C+October+26%2C+2023+DM2294746_NEJM_Non_Subscriber&bid=1884088136
“In recent years, organized medicine has sounded the alarm on climate change and advocated for policies that could mitigate it and protect populations from related threats. The health care community, working in coalition with environmental organizations, played an important role in supporting the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act and has weighed in on several proposed U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rules, which together could substantially reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in the United States.”
#ECS in the real world: Ring et al. 2012
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Oct 25, 2023
“Especially when it adds yet more evidence that ECS is 2C or less. Despite which the authors came out thinking exactly what they thought going in, namely full steam ahead for climate policy:”
10 Billion Crabs Suddenly Vanished From the Bering Sea. Now We Know Why.
By Tim Newcomb, Popular Mechanics, Oct 25, 2023 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://news.yahoo.com/10-billion-crabs-suddenly-vanished-153700657.html?guccounter=1
Link to: The collapse of eastern Bering Sea snow crab
By Cody Szuwalski, et al., AAAS Science, Oct 19, 2023
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adf6035
[SEPP Comment: The Arctic has never had a marine heat wave before?]
Climate disasters did nearly $400 million in damage daily for 20 years: research
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Oct 24, 2023
Climate disasters did nearly $400 million in damage daily for 20 years: research
Link to paper: The global costs of extreme weather that are attributable to climate change
By Rebecca Newman & Ilan Noy, Nature Communications, Sep 29, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-41888-1#Sec8
[SEPP Comment: What about the Yangtze River Flood of 1931 which killed directly or indirectly from famine, poor sanitation, and diseases about 3.7 million people?]
https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/the-deadliest-natural-disasters-from-the-20th-century.html#:~:text=A%20natural%20disaster%20is%20a,between%20850%2C000%20to%204%2C000%2C000%20people.
Questioning the Orthodoxy
The Latest On Global Warming Is … There Is No Global Warming
By I & I Editorial Board, Oct 25, 2023
Link to discussion paper: To what extent are temperature levels changing due to greenhouse gas emissions?
By John K. Dagsvik and Sigmund H. Moen, Statistics Norway, September 2023
“In other words, our words, the greenhouse effect is so weak that it should be sidelined as an argument.”
The Latest On Global Warming Is … There Is No Global Warming, Part II
I & I Editorial Board, Oct 26, 2023
CO2 and clouds: their relative roles as agents of climate change
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Oct 25, 2023
Link to update to 2004 paper: Can Earth’s albedo and surface temperatures increase together?
By Enric Pallé, Philip R. Goode, Pilar Montañés-Rodriguez, Steven E. Koonin, EOS, June 3, 2011
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1029/2006EO040002
From the CO2Science Archive
New Reconstructions From Brazil, China, Europe Indicate No Net Warming In Recent Centuries
By Kenneth Richard, No Tricks Zone, Oct 26, 2023
Link to paper on Southern Brazil: Exploring the Centennial-Scale Climate History of Southern Brazil with Ocotea porosa (Nees & Mart.) Barroso Tree-Rings
By Daniela Oliveira Silva Muraja, et al., Atmosphere, Sep 20, 2023
https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4433/14/9/1463
Link to paper on Central China: Little Ice Age cooling in the Western Hengduan Mountains, China: a 600-year warm-season temperature reconstruction from tree rings
By Weipeng Yue,, et al, Climate Dynamics, Sept 6, 2023
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00382-023-06932-2
Link to paper on Europe: The first tree-ring reconstrruction of streamflow variability over the last ∼250 years in the Lower Danube
By Nagavciuc Viorica, et al. Journal of Hydrology, Feb 2023
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022169423000926
Where Is the Alleged Australian Warming?
By Geoff Sherrington, WUWT, Oct 22, 2023
“The final lesson?
As with all scientific work, researchers are not permitted to rely on convoluted interpretations when the simple, primary data do not tell the required story.
First explain the simple, primary data.”
It’s not climate change that wiped out 70% of Africa’s forest, it’s an electricity crisis
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 26, 2023
“Does anyone care? 600 million Africans don’t have electricity”
[SEPP Comment: See Goeff Hill’s reports under Challenging the Orthodoxy.]
Forbes: Climate Policy Hurts the Poor More than Climate Change
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Oct 27, 2023
Forbes article by Tilak Doshi
In the land of make-believe
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Oct 25, 2023
Tidbits
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Oct 25, 2023
Fred Pearce on Margaret Thatcher: Misdirection at “Yale Environment 360”
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, Oct 25, 2023
“Margaret Thatcher changed her mind on climate alarmism–against.”
Julian Simon, Vindicated Again
By Jane Shaw Stroup, Master Resource, Oct 27, 2023
Energy and Environmental Review: October 23, 2023
By John Droz, Jr., Master Resource, Oct 23, 2023
After Paris!
Global stocktake and beyond
Editorial, Nature Climate Change, Oct 4, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41558-023-01845-8
[SEPP Comment; Will this COP 28 global stocktake include BRICS countries with about 3.2 billion people, about 40% of the world’s population, plus Saudi Arabia, Iran, Ethiopia, Egypt, Argentina, and UAE?]
https://www.statista.com/topics/1393/bric-countries/#dossier-chapter2
“[COP28 Preparation] Climate loss and damage talks end in failure”
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Oct 21, 2023
Climate Loss and Damage Fails Again
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Oct 22, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Cites the report in the Jakarta Post.]
Problems in the Orthodoxy
China Restricts Exports of Graphite, Key Mineral Used for Making EV Batteries
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 22, 2023
“China last year accounted for close to two-thirds of global production of graphite and all but 2% of spherical graphite output, the final product used in anodes for lithium-ion batteries.”
From Homewood: “Do we really want to put our whole economy at the mercy of President Xi?”
German Coal Plants May Have To Remain On Standby Longer Than Planned
By Tsvetana Paraskova, Oil Price.com, Oct 23, 2023
https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/German-Coal-Plants-May-Have-To-Remain-On-Standby-Longer-Than-Planned.html
“As of this month, 11 coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 6.2 gigawatts (GW) have been supplying additional electricity to the German grid.
India Extends Emergency Operation Order for Plants Using Imported Coal
By Darrell Proctor, Power Mag, Oct 25, 2023
https://www.powermag.com/india-extends-emergency-operation-order-for-plants-using-imported-coal/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
Seeking a Common Ground
Genetically modified bacteria break down plastics in saltwater
Modified organism can break down PET microplastics, a significant contributor to pollution in oceans
Press Release, NSF, Oct 26, 2023
https://new.nsf.gov/news/genetically-modified-bacteria-break-down-plastics?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Measurement Issues — Surface
50 years ago, scientists warned of the ‘neglected dangers’ of heat islands
Excerpt from the October 20, 1973 issue of Science News
By Erin Garcia de Jesús, Science News, Oct 24, 2023
How we know past climate without thermometers
By Sean Sublette, Richmond Times-Dispatch, Oct 18, 2023 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://richmond.com/news/nation-world/weather/climate-change-glaciers-paleo-warming-sediments/article_108d2847-9a75-5fb9-b539-f5f43140b56a.html?fbclid=IwAR0rRHp1lszvjJX_WnofjtL0pUqRth_d7HNRkIR6U4O8uZ3mdoTF__VYfXI
[SEPP Comment: Yet NASA, NOAA, Copernicus EU, and Mr. Mann ignore the results of deep-sea sediments.]
Changing Weather
Crocodile Eats Woman–Must Be Because Of Climate Change!!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 22, 2023
[SEPP Comment: Includes a good, cartoon explanation of El Niño by the Met Office.]
Early Heavy Snow for the North Cascades
By Cliff Mass, Weather Blog, Oct 24, 2023
https://cliffmass.blogspot.com/2023/10/early-heavy-snow-for-north-cascades.html
Floods & Tornadoes in 1954
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 24, 2023
Changing Climate
Holocene Climate Change In The Arctic
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 25, 2023
link to paper: Holocene climate change in Arctic Canada and Greenland
By Jason P. Brine, et al., Quaternary Science Reviews, September 2016
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379116300427
“It’s quite a powerful study because of its wide geographical coverage, unlike other studies that focus on one particular proxy in one location.
Below is the key graph. It’s measured in SDs, [Standard Deviations] but illustrates how temperatures plunged around 3000 years ago, and notably since the Middle Ages:”
Changing Cryosphere – Land / Sea Ice
Greenland’s Tipping Point Cancelled? Claims Of A Runaway Melt Are Overblown
By KlimaNachrichten, Via P Gosselin, No Tricks Zone, Oct 22, 2023
“We have carefully read the definition of a ‘tipping point’ as conveyed by Potsdam Institute (PIK): ‘It’s like a pencil that you push further and further over the edge of a table with your finger. First nothing happens – then it falls.’ That’s what the PIK website says.”
[SEPP Comment; Like a ship sailing too far from land to over the edge of the Earth?]
Polar experiments reveal seasonal cycle in Antarctic sea-ice algae
Remote ecosystem is home to much of the Southern Ocean’s photosynthetic life
Press Release, NSF, Oct 26, 2023
https://new.nsf.gov/news/polar-experiments-reveal-seasonal-cycle-antarctic?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery
Link to paper: Microbial metabolomic responses to changes in temperature and salinity along the western Antarctic Peninsula
By H. M. Dawson, et al, The ISME Journal, Sep 15, 2023
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41396-023-01475-0
Boom-bust cycles in gray whales associated with dynamic and changing Arctic conditions
By Joshua Stewart, et al., AAAS Science, Oct 12, 2023 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adi1847
From the abstract: “When low prey biomass coincided with high ice cover, gray whales experienced major mortality events, each reducing the population by 15 to 25%. This suggests that even mobile, long-lived species are sensitive to dynamic and changing conditions as the Arctic warms.”
[SEPP Comment: Low ice cover coinciding with high prey biomass would mean a boom in whale populations?]
Antarctic Sea Volume Higher Than In The 1980s
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 22, 2023
Churchill so far has few problems with polar bears despite predictions of a record bad year
By Susan Crockford, Polar Bear Science, Oct 26, 2023
Agriculture Issues & Fear of Famine
Glad you asked
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Oct 25, 2023
“’Climate change has a direct impact on food systems, and food security. It depresses global agricultural production, which, in turn, drives up food prices.’”
[SEPP Comment: According to Starinsider on MSN an increase in CO2 and temperature will decrease photosynthesis?]
Lowering Standards
OFCOM Find GB News Broke Impartiality Rules–But What About The BBC?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 24, 2023
Meet Andy Samuel–The Met Office’s New Director
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 21, 2023
From press release: The Met Office’s newly appointed non-executive director, Andy Samuel, is a highly respected leader with extensive experience across start-ups, large multinational companies and government.
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/andy-samuel-appointed-to-the-met-office-board-as-non-executive-director
[SEPP Comment: No indication that he would require Met Office models be tested against observations, which would be a great improvement in Met Office modeling.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Yellow (Green) Journalism?
Faster West Antarctic Ice Sheet melting unavoidable: study
By Kelly MacNamara, Paris (AFP), Oct 23, 2023
https://www.terradaily.com/reports/Faster_West_Antarctic_Ice_Sheet_melting_unavoidable_study_999.html
Does not identify paper.
Permanent California Drought Update
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Oct 27, 2023
To Be Clear, Minnesota Public Radio, Allergies Are Manageable, Extended Growing Seasons Benefit Everyone
By H. Sterling Burnett, Climate Realism, Oct 26, 2023
Sky Blames Babet Floods On Climate Change
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 26, 2023
“From Sky’s ‘We Never Had Floods Before’ Department.”
What Caused Severe Floods In The 1950s, Sky News?
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 24, 2023
Communicating Better to the Public – Go Personal.
Former EU Parliament Member Nigel Farage got de-banked due to his skeptical ‘stance on climate change…not aligning with’ NatWest bank’s ‘objectives’ – Documents reveal
By Marc Morano, Climate Depot, Oct 23, 2023
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda
Why Are Scientists So Slow to Abandon Their Failed Climate Models?
By Chris Morrison, The Daily Sceptic, Oct 22, 2023 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
Andrew Forrest’s Climate Alarmism: A Misguided Crusade
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Oct 22, 2023
“’Andrew Forrest has warned climate experts in Australia that ‘lethal humidity is here’ and needs to be stopped, part of a message he says he was told to spread by the White House, New Delhi and Beijing.’” [Boldface added]
BBC Planet Earth III Exposed
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 25, 2023
CCN [Climate Change Now] Demand Higher Energy Prices (But Don’t Tell The Proles!)
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 26, 2023
“The contradiction at the heart of the climate fight, as Paris Agreement architect Christiana Figueres told the recent “Climate Changes Everything” conference, is that climate-friendly technologies are accelerating even as fossil fuel industry intransigence keeps greenhouse gas emissions climbing.”
[SEPP Comment: Figueres avoids placing the blame for increasing CO2 emissions where it belongs – on China and the BRICS countries. However, CO2 has little to do with current climate change.]
Communicating Better to the Public – Use Propaganda on Children
Experts Addle Kids’ Minds Over “Climate Change”
By William Briggs, Via WUWT, Oct 25, 2023
Questioning European Green
Nobody wants a heat pump, no matter how large the bribes
By Ross Clark, The Telegraph, UK, Oct 24, 2023 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://news.yahoo.com/nobody-wants-heat-pump-no-105755464.html
Questioning Green Elsewhere
No Green Energy Future Without Coal
By Ron Clutz, Energy Matters, Oct 26, 2023
From: Why ‘dirty’ coal is vital to a ‘clean’ green future
‘Any time you have energy, you have to dig something out of the ground’
By Teresa Mull, The Spectator, US, Oct 20, 2023
Emphasis and images added by Clutz.
The rules of Energy Transition Club
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Oct 24, 2023
From: The rules of Transition Club
By Irana Slav, Her Substack, Oct 19, 2023
https://irinaslav.substack.com/p/the-rules-of-transition-club?utm_source=post-email-title&publication_id=376351&post_id=137811433&utm_campaign=email-post-title&isFreemail=true&r=1656tg&utm_medium=email
Funding Issues
2023 Deficit Hit $1.7 Trillion [US]
By Staff, Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, Oct 23, 2023
https://www.crfb.org/blogs/2023-deficit-hit-17-trillion
Litigation Issues
The Concerned Household Electricity Consumers Council Has Petitioned The Supreme Court For Certiorari
By Francis Menton, Manhattan Contrarian, Oct 21, 2023
https://www.manhattancontrarian.com/blog/2023-10-21-the-concerned-household-electricity-consumers-council-has-petitioned-the-supreme-court-for-certiori
Cap-and-Trade and Carbon Taxes
U.S. Federal Debt and Carbon Emissions Create the Perfect Storm for a Carbon Tax
By Robert G. Eccles, Real Clear Energy, October 24, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/10/24/us_federal_debt_and_carbon_emissions_create_the_perfect_storm_for_a_carbon_tax_988222.html
[SEPP Comment: Does the University of Oxford business school professor propose taxing China?]
Subsidies and Mandates Forever
The Political Risks of Mandating EVs for Everyone
By Mark P. Mills, Real Clear Energy, October 25, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/10/25/the_political_risks_of_mandating_evs_for_everyone_988506.html
EPA and other Regulators on the March
EPA proposes ban on carcinogenic cleaning chemical TCE
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Oct 23, 2023
“EPA Deputy Administrator Janet McCabe described the proposal as a “vital step in our efforts to advance President Biden’s Cancer Moonshot and protect people from cancer and other serious health risks.”
[SEPP Comment: Congress passed, and President Nixon signed National Cancer Act of 1971.]
Review of Proposed Minimum Efficiency Standards for “Consumer Boilers”
By Mark Krebs, Master Resource, Oct 24, 2023
“DOE’s recent appliance efficiency ‘determinations’ are doing more harm than good for consumers and defy objectivity and transparency processes required by the Code of Federal Regulations (the Process Rule) …”
HUD to fund $100M clean energy renovations for 1,500 low-income homes
By Amy R. Connolly, Energy Daily, Oct 19, 2023
https://www.energy-daily.com/reports/HUD_to_fund_100M_clean_energy_renovations_for_1500_low-income_homes_999.html
“The investment aims to help small businesses and nonprofit organizations provide rooftop solar panels, wind turbines and energy efficient HVAC systems, among other improvements.”
[SEPP Comment: $66,700 per home? According to the US Census Bureau: “The official poverty rate in 2022 was 11.5%, with 37.9 million people in poverty. The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that real median household income in 2022 fell in comparison to 2021.” Who knows how HUD will define low-income homes.]
https://www.census.gov/newsroom/press-releases/2023/income-poverty-health-insurance-coverage.html
U.S. government announces tax credit boost for solar projects serving low-income, tribal communities
By Anne Fischer, PV Magazine, Oct 23, 2023
“Supported by the Inflation Reduction Act, the program intends to help expand access to cost-saving clean energy projects in underserved communities with tax incentives for solar and wind projects across the country.”
[SEPP Comment: By making them more dependent on Washington?]
Energy Issues – Non-US
Anti-oil, but Definitely Pro-Products from Oil
By Ronald Stein, P.E., The Heartland Institute, Oct 24, 2023
‘Britain will need gas to avoid blackouts for decades’
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 23, 2023
Energy Issues – Australia
Aussie Energy & Climate Minister: Don’t Expect 3.4GW of New Renewables to Provide Grid Stability
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Oct 24, 2023
“I accept Bowen inherited a mess from the previous net zero infatuated faux conservative administration, but Bowen’s ignorant and reckless energy policies have made the mess a whole lot worse.”
Snowy 2.0, doomed from the start — after the sinkhole came the poison gas, “worst major project in history”
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 24, 2023
Energy Issues — US
State of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative in the NE U.S.
By Roger Caiazza, Climate Etc. Oct 23, 2023
The Wind is Always Blowing Somewhere Fallacy
By Roger Caiazza, WUWT, Oct 24, 2023
“In this post I consider the challenge of using wind, solar, and hydro to replace one component of the NY grid – New York City’s existing fossil fired units.”
Statements from Speaker Adams and Majority Leader Powers on Mayor Adams Signing Council Legislation to Make New York City the Largest U.S. City to Require a Zero Emissions Vehicle Fleet into Law
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Oct 26, 2023
Link to press release.
[SEPP Comment: What happens when the battery of a fire truck runs out when pumping water into a high-rise?]
Governor Hochul Announces Nation’s Largest-Ever State Investment in Renewable Energy is Moving Forward in New York
Press Release, Governor Kathy Hochul, Oct 24, 2023
https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-hochul-announces-nations-largest-ever-state-investment-renewable-energy-moving
“New York State’s Nation-Leading Climate Plan”
“Three Offshore Wind and 22 Land-Based Renewable Energy Projects Totaling 6.4 Gigawatts Will Power 2.6 Million New York Homes and Deliver 12 Percent of New York’s Electricity Needs in 2030.”
[SEPP Comment: What percentage of the time and who pays for the backup?]
Washington’s Control of Energy
Court indefinitely blocks Gulf oil leasing deadline set for Nov. 8
By Zack Budryk, The Hill, Oct 26, 2023
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4278241-gulf-mexico-oil-lease-sale-court-indefinitely-blocks/
“’We look forward to the opportunity to present our arguments to the Court of Appeals,” said Steve Mashuda, an attorney with the environmental advocacy group Earthjustice, which is involved in the appeal. “We’ll continue to press for restoring basic measures to prevent harm to the critically endangered Rice’s Whale.’”
Biden administration moves toward more wind energy in Gulf of Mexico
By Rachel Frazin, The Hill, Oct 27, 2023
https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/4280115-biden-administration-wind-energy-gulf-of-mexico/
[SEPP Comment: What about the Rice whale? See link immediately above.]
Oil and Natural Gas – the Future or the Past?
Fifty Years Of Net Zero
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Oct 22, 2023
[SEPP Comment: With the Arab Oil Embargo, Washington embraced the new miracle fuel, Coal!]
Nuclear Energy and Fears
DOE Picks Nuclear Designs for First Microreactor Experiments at INL’s New Test Bed
By Sonal Patel, Power Mag, Oct 23, 2023
https://www.powermag.com/doe-picks-nuclear-designs-for-first-microreactor-experiments-at-inls-new-test-bed/?oly_enc_id=7809H6412578J0B
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Solar and Wind
Wind industry confirms Great Green Lie
Press Release, Net Zero Watch, Oct 26, 2023
“Rishi Sunak has said that there has been a long-term deception of the British public. RWE’s demand for more subsidy confirms it. The Green Blob has been lying about renewables costs for years. The truth is that wind power is expensive, and becoming more so. The energy “transition” is a transition to poverty, but few in Westminster seem to have the guts to say so.”
$160,000 worth of wind and solar power with batteries can’t power two homes alone
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 27, 2023
Link to: Living Off-Grid Has Shown Me That Modern Society Cannot Function on Renewable Energy
By Pseudonaja Textilis, Daily Sceptic, Oct 26, 2023
Offshore Wind Demands £95/MWh
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 26, 2023
“’Tom Glover, country chair of RWE’s UK arm, said the price offered by the Government to wind farm operators must rise by as much as 70pc [percent] to entice companies to build.
Developers must be offered between £65 and £75 per megawatt hour (MwH) for the power generated from wind farms, Mr Glover said.
That compares to the £44 offered in the most recent government-run auction.’”
Homewood: “There never was any intention trigger those [low-price] contracts, instead wind farm owners always planned to sell at much higher prices on the open market.
In the latest auction, this loophole was closed by the govt, leaving the wind industry between a rock and a hard place, with their bluff having been well and truly called.”
Beware the offshore wind oligarchy
By David Wojick. CFACT, Oct 22, 2023
https://www.cfact.org/2023/10/22/beware-the-offshore-wind-oligarchy/
Windpower Noise vs. Farmers and Livestock: The View from Australia (Queensland)
By Robert Bradley Jr., Master Resource, October 26, 2023
China plans wind tower as big as the Eiffel Tower, blades 1000ft across (Better at killing birds and bats?)
By Jo Nova, Her Blog, Oct 25, 2023
[SEPP Comment: No bats at sea.]
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Energy — Storage
Researchers make surprising discovery about lifespan of EV batteries: ‘That was a shock’
By Erin Feiger, Yahoo News, Oct 25, 2023 [H/t Bernie Kepshire]
https://news.yahoo.com/researchers-surprising-discovery-lifespan-ev-110000330.html
Link to study: New Study: How Long Do Electric Car Batteries Last?
By Liz Najman, Recurrent, Mar 27, 2023
https://www.recurrentauto.com/research/how-long-do-ev-batteries-last
[SEPP Comment: Unable to evaluate the quality of the research. The language used by the researcher makes it questionable.]
Your Tax Dollars at Leisure
By Kevin Kilty, WUWT, Oct 22, 2023
“Nonetheless, I don’t see how any but one of the projects actually demonstrates long duration storage. Most provide a couple of days storage at most, at small power, and without guarantee that a facility relying on them for backup wouldn’t have to resort to rationing. In several cases the technology supplier has already built projects to the proposed scale, meaning that these are not really ‘technology demonstrations’ in the ordinary use of that term. The lack of truly long term projects in this list may reflect that there were almost no long duration proposals to choose from.”
Alternative, Green (“Clean”) Vehicles
TPPF Releases Study Exposing the True Cost of Electric Vehicles
Press Release, Texas Public Policy Foundation, Oct 25, 2023
https://www.texaspolicy.com/press/tppf-releases-study-exposing-the-true-cost-of-electric-vehicles
Link to report: Overcharged Expectations: Unmasking the True Costs of Electric Vehicles
By Brent Bennett and Jason Isaac, Texas Public Policy Foundation, October 2023
Mega-Jolt: The Costs and Logistics of Plugging In EVs Are About to Become Supercharged
By John Murawski, Real Clear Wire, Oct 24, 2023
https://realclearwire.com/articles/2023/10/24/mega-jolt_the_costs_and_logistics_of_plugging_in_evs_are_about_to_become_supercharged_987493.html#/find/nearest?country=US
Want More Miles From Your EV? Lose Weight!
By Paul Homewood, Not a Lot of People Know That, Oct 23, 2023
“The tips include:
Don’t drive when the weather’s too hot or cold
Turn your heating down in winter…”
Carbon Schemes
Navigator CO2 Ventures cancels carbon-capture pipeline project in US Midwest
By Charles Rotter, WUWT, Oct 23, 2023
California Dreaming
Florida Hardened Its Electric Grid, California Should Follow
By Ron Brisé, Real Clear Energy, October 24, 2023
https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2023/10/24/florida_hardened_its_electric_grid_california_should_follow_988215.html
[SEPP Comment: Given the current politics, doubtful it will.]
Late addition to energy bill may help develop a pumped storage facility at San Vicente Reservoir
By Rob Nikolewski, The San Diego Union-Tribune, Sep 13, 2023
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/business/story/2023-09-13/energy-procurement-bill-may-help-develop-a-pumped-storage-facility-proposed-at-san-vicente-reservoir
“California plans to deploy enough electricity from offshore wind to power 3.75 million homes by 2030 and 25 million homes by mid-century. [Proposed Assembly Bill] AB 1373 also seeks to develop new geothermal power plants in Imperial Valley.”
Environmental Industry
Big Oil Targets Sonoma Coast and Marine Sanctuary
By Staff, The Ocean Foundation, Friends of Gualala River, Aug 30, 2023
“The project sponsor, HGE Energy Storage LLC is a privately held corporation located in Parkersburg, West Virginia, and owns and operates oil and gas wells in Ohio, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia.”
[SEPP Comment: HGE Energy Storage LLC is Big Oil?]
BELOW THE BOTTOM LINE
Are Therapists Suffering Climate Anxiety Helping their Patients?
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Oct 22, 2023
China’s Dedication To Net Zero
By Tony Heller, His Blog, Oct 26, 2023
More on geoengineering
By John Robson, Climate Discussion Nexus, Oct 25, 2023
You Are the Carbon They Want to Reduce
By Ron Clutz, Science Matters, Oct 26, 2023
Pumping cold water into rivers could act as ‘air conditioning’ for fish
In experiments, hundreds of fish sought shelter from summer heat in the human-made plumes
By Nikk Ogasa, Science News, Oct 25, 2023
Claim: Wear Old Clothes to Reduce our Climate Impact
By Eric Worrall, WUWT, Oct 27, 2023
Based on a claim from a: Research Assistant, Youth Community Futures, University of Southern Queensland
ARTICLES
1. The Fed’s New Climate-Change Mandate
Regulatory ‘guidance’ tells banks to fret about unknowable risks.
By The Editorial Board, WSJ, Oct 25, 2023
https://www.wsj.com/articles/federal-reserve-climate-banks-regulation-jerome-powell-michelle-bowman-7857f0d9?mod=hp_opin_pos_6#cxrecs_s
TWTW Summary: The editorial begins with:
“There’s no shortage of risks to keep bankers up at night: Rising interest rates, wars, commercial real estate, a weakening Chinese economy. Yet financial regulators want banks to focus on—drum roll, please—climate change.
The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., and Comptroller of the Currency on Tuesday published guidance directing banks on how to manage putative climate risks. The agencies say they aren’t dictating how banks lend to accelerate the shift to a lower-carbon economy. But reading between the lines, that’s exactly what they’re doing.
The guidance says banks must manage their balance sheets for physical risks from climate change, such as flooding or drought, as well as the ‘stresses to institutions or sectors arising from the shifts in policy, consumer and business sentiment, or technologies associated with the changes that would be part of a transition to a lower carbon economy.’
In other words, banks will need to consider their lending priorities with the climate lobby’s preferred policies and predictions in mind, whether or not those predictions are likely to happen. That would mean reducing exposure to fossil fuels because President Biden has set a goal of eliminating carbon emissions from the power grid by 2035 and achieving a ‘net-zero’ economy by 2050.
Banks will also have to conduct a ‘climate-related scenario analysis’—don’t call them stress tests—that extend ‘beyond the financial institution’s typical strategic planning horizon’ and account for potential losses in ‘extreme but plausible scenarios.’ Does this mean anticipating a melting Antarctica? What’s extreme and what’s plausible is far from clear.
As Fed Governor Michelle Bowman notes in dissent, long-dated predictions ‘are likely to be highly speculative’ and ‘of limited or no utility to the bank in managing risk.’ Banks must hedge all kinds of risks, so why are regulators singling out climate for special treatment?
Perhaps because their goal is to pressure banks to finance the left’s green-energy transition. Regulators aren’t expressly dictating which industries banks lend or don’t lend to, but examiners will review and grade them on how well they manage putative climate risks. Banks could get penalized if examiners give them bad marks.”
After discussing other dubious provisions in the mandate, the editorial concludes with:
Regulators are clearly telling banks and their examiners they need to spend more time and resources prioritizing climate even if there are more material and immediate financial risks.
*****************
2. The Auto Makers Cry for EV Mercy
The Big Three tell Biden his fuel-economy rules will ‘devalue’ their EVs.
By The Editorial Board,, WSJ, Oct. 22, 2023
https://www.wsj.com/articles/electric-vehicle-mandates-biden-administration-big-three-auto-makers-cafe-standards-a1ef9183?mod=hp_opin_pos_5#cxrecs_s
TWTW Summary: The editorial begins with”
“General Motors last week said it is delaying electric pick-up truck production in Michigan, citing slowing demand for EVs and the need to make them more profitable. But the Biden Administration’s back-door EV mandate is ironically causing trouble for its plans for green-vehicle investment.
On Sept. 14, the day before the United Auto Workers launched its strike, the Energy Department sent letters to Ford, General Motors and Stellantis asking for help understanding ‘specific challenges’ to its proposed rule that would reduce the credits under the corporate average fuel economy (Cafe) standards for producing electric vehicles.
The issue is technical, but bear with us because this is a tale of regulation at crazy cross-purposes. Congress’s 1979 Chrysler bailout required the Energy Department to impute a ‘petroleum equivalency factor’ for EVs they might produce to give Detroit auto makers a means of complying with Cafe standards besides making more fuel efficient trucks.
In 2000 the Clinton Administration sweetened the regulatory subsidy for EVs by assigning them a fuel economy multiplier of 6.67. Ergo, an EV calculated to get 40 miles per gallon would receive credit for 266.8 mpg under the Cafe standards.
Although Congress had limited this multiplier credit to cars that run on biofuels, natural gas and hydrogen, the Clinton Administration said it was only fair to give the bonus to EVs too. Subsequent Presidents kept this EV fillip because it has let Detroit auto makers churn out profitable gas guzzlers while meeting ever-rising fuel economy mandates.
Enter the Sierra Club and Natural Resources Defense Council, which petitioned the Biden Administration in 2021 to scrap the 6.67 multiplier for EVs. They note that its legal justification ‘is questionable, as the statute expressly provides for different treatment’ between electric vehicles and those that run on so-called alternative fuels. They’re right.
But their real goal is to force auto makers to manufacture more EVs to meet Cafe standards, which the Administration has also proposed ratcheting up. ‘Excessively high imputed fuel economy values for EVs means that a relatively small number of EVs will mathematically guarantee compliance,’ they noted.
The Energy Department in the spring proposed to eliminate the 6.67 multiplier while softening the impact with other changes. As a result, a Ford-150 Lightning would only be credited with 67.1 mpg, down from 237.7 mpg. But taken altogether, the Administration’s proposed revisions would in effect mandate that EVs make up 100% of new vehicles by 2032.”
The article goes into how Detroit objects, then concludes.
“Unrealistic fuel economy standards combined with inflated credits for EVs have let auto makers pretend that their cars are more efficient than they are. It’s nice that the Administration is showing concern about the costs of its EV mandate, but it would be far better if it set fuel economy rules that were realistic and honest.”
*****************
3. The Arab Oil Embargo and Bad Energy Policy’s 50th Birthday
America got cleaner air and in every other way a straight line to today’s EV boondoggle.
By Holman W. Jenkins, Jr., WSJ, Oct. 20, 2023
https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-arab-oil-embargo-and-bad-energy-policys-50th-birthday-c4762cd4?mod=opinion_featst_pos2
Link to article: The Fantasy of Energy Independence
50 years ago, America was shocked by gas lines during the Arab oil embargo. The memory still haunts bad energy policy today.
By Peter Grossman, The New Atlantis, Fall 2023
TWTW Summary: Covered in the This Week section above.
Related
